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ALDF Sues University of Wisconsin over “Maternal Deprivation” Experiments on Baby Monkeys

Posted on October 14, 2014

Animal Protection Group Asks Court to Compel University to Share Public Records on Controversial, Taxpayer-Funded Primate Studies

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Megan Backus, Animal Legal Defense Fund

MADISON, Wis. — Today, the national nonprofit Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) filed a lawsuit to compel the disclosure of public records concerning taxpayer-funded maternal deprivation experiments conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The suit, filed in the Circuit Court of Dane County, Wisconsin, contends that the university illegally ignored its obligations under Wisconsin’s open records law to release full records of federally-mandated animal welfare committee meetings in which the controversial research was approved. Federal law, including the Animal Welfare Act, requires that the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) review federally-funded research proposals. ALDF seeks these records, which will allow the public to see whether the IACUC fulfilled its statutory watchdog role or whether the committee improperly green-lighted research that inflicts extreme suffering on animals for dubious human health gains.

In the experiments, 20 newborn rhesus macaques are taken from their mothers on their first day of life and kept in a barren incubator box, with only a stuffed “surrogate” and bottle for comfort. The infants, later paired with another unfamiliar young monkey, undergo terror and anxiety-inducing experiences, including unfamiliar “human intruders” and live snakes. Throughout their short lives, the monkeys’ blood and cerebrospinal fluid will be repeatedly harvested, and they will be subjected to invasive brain scans. Before the infants are 18 months old, the researchers will kill them and dissect their brains. Through maternal deprivation and intrusive tests, the aim is to cause such severe trauma to the newborn primates that their brain chemistry will have changed before the age of one.

The lawsuit comes amidst public clamor for more information about this extreme research. In the past weeks, more than 300,000 people have signed a Change.org petition demanding an end to the tests.

“These horrific experiments on infant monkeys have raised significant concerns from the public as well as from the university’s own review committee,” said Stephen Wells, executive director of ALDF. “As taxpayers, the public has a right to know if they are paying for archaic, inhumane, and illegal tests.”

The NIH has consistently funded schools with our tax dollars, for inhumane, cruel, and torturous ‘tests’ on Baby Monkeys. There is no reason for the testing! It isn’t rocket science. We all know what happens to babies that are abused!

Primates are very intelligent. These experiments are equivalent to child abuse. Enough experiments have shown that extreme psychological trauma causes changes in hormones, and changes in the brain chemistry. There is no value in repeating such experiments.

Let’s use these tax dollars to help people, not torture animals. These studies are not going to benefit people in any way. These studies are redundant. Eric Sandgren said the studies were done because there are so many depressed people in the world. Then he said the studies will be done to study anxiety. Depression and anxiety are not the same things. There are so many depressed and anxious individuals in this world because people have lost their ability to empathize, and as a result, this world is getting more violent. They don’t need to dissect the brains of baby monkeys to get that data.

This experiment has already been done! How many more animals must die before these “humans” can relearn what they already know! If animal cruelty is now a felony in all 50 states, how is this experiment even possible!

These are BABIES people one day old. Yes 1 day old. This is a crime & the University should be sued. No one should take a baby one day old away from it’s mother. Kitten, puppy, monkey, nothing should be separated from it’s maternal mother!Someone should lock these scientist in a box or dark cell with NOTHING to comfort them and then we’ll test their brains later to see if they had any common sense!! An eye for an eye.

Did you know that the dairy industry also takes one day old calfs away from their mothers so the milk can then be available for human consumption then locks them in a dark crate for the rest of their short miserable lives and slaughters them so people can eat veal?! If cruelty to animals is illegal in all 50 states then why are not only laboratories held responsible but the farming industry also??

Not all dairies do this but,sadly, most of them do. Also no reason. The horse racing industry takes their champion babies from their moms and gives them to surrogates so the bio mom can go back to work. The surrogates babies are sold for leather, meat or just left to die. The Last Chance Corral buys them and bottle raises them. All of these industries should be shut down for their cruelty. As far as dairy…Don’t buy it. Money talks.

It’s obvious your research approval and ethics committee have no ethics to sanction such vile experiments. And the point being??? Yet another redundant study that harms and abuses animals so a few ‘researchers’ and the institution can get published for some frivolous, overdone ‘study’??? And this gains you what? What this is is flagrant torture and exploitation of baby animals for NO acceptable reason. Look at the ethics of your institution and what you stand for, hopefully it’s not the flagrant animal abuse you are committing.

It’s about Damn Time these sociopaths like Ned Kalin take responsibility for contributing to the detriment of the existence of ethics of a MORAL SOCIETY!!!! THIS IS BEYOND EVIL TO TORTURE INFANTS OF ANY SPECIES FOR MONETARY GAIN AND TO CREATE DRUGS FOR BIG PHARMA THAT HALF OF THE UNITED STATES OVERDOSES ON EVERY YEAR!!! WHERE DO YOU THINK EBOLA CAME FROM??? THE DEMAND FOR PRIMATES FOR THESE SICK EXPERIMENTS CAUSES POACHING PRIMATES TO SELL TO LABS WHO CAN CONTAIN THE EBOLA VIRUS!!!! HOW CAN ANY BEING WHO HAS SWORN TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC HEALTH BE ALLOWED TO ABUSE IT AND CAUSE MASS SUFFERING!!! IT IS A VIOLATION OF ALL OUR CIVIL RIGHTS TO HAVE THESE EXPERIMENTS DONE WITH OUR TAX DOLLARS MAKING US ACCESSORY TO THE UNNECESSARY SUFFERING AND ABUSE OF INNOCENT SENTIENT BEINGS!!! ABSOLUTELY CORRUPT AND VILE BEHAVIOR OF THESE SOCIOPATHS WHO HAVE NO EMPATHY OR CONSCIOUS BUT ARE OPERATING SOLELY ON EGO DRIVEN BY GREED AND POWER!!!

This same experiment was done by Psychologist H Harlow over half a century ago. He was my professor for intro psych in 1968. I was horrified when he bragged about how he had abused infant primates. I am more appalled that this study is being replicated today. The bond between infant and mother is profound and universal. To snatch a baby monkey from its mother at birth and then force it to live in isolation and subjected to terrifying stimuli is my definition of evil and inhuman. Oh the university will give you lofty rhetoric about how this will benefit mankind. Rubbish. The study’s sole purpose is to obtain money. Publish or perish. Well maybe this department should be abolished if they cannot find any worthwhile studies to conduct. This experiment will prove nothing we do not already know. That the U of WI condones it is disgraceful. As an alumni of the U of WI I am deeply ashamed of my alma mater and have changed my will to ensure they will not get a penny from me. How can anyone condone such sickening cruelty?

STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!!
This is disgusting and NOT science. It is cruel and unusual punishment! WHY do you need to do this?? What is the point?? I am so upset and offended that tax payer $$ funds this. I would sue you too if I could!!!

These were my thought too. Someone who knows someone wanted there experiment to be paid for thinking that it would get them further notoriety, but what an dumb ass. Killing and harming another living thing is not a good idea at all. I hope this person gets his but kicked by the publicity.

The entire industry of “Research” is a sham. It exists not to ‘help’ discover cures for human illness, but to provide jobs for people who otherwise would be unemployed or in jail. (Skill set: Torturing animals, and recording the details..). Seriously, “Researchers” are a group that exist as an extension of the Pharmaceutical Medical, and Chemical Corp Industries- entities which exist to create and perpetuate disease for profit, not cure it.

I read that the University of Wisconsin tried to say that the experiment was only to take the monkeys from the mother and pair them with a human in order to document “mild” trauma and depression. Whether this is true or the more severe experiment is true makes no difference to me. Neither experiment should take place. We claim to have evolved over time…..have we? I suppose some of us can. We don’t need baby monkeys to tell us that traumatizing events cause mental and emotional distress as well as disabilities. We see it every day with people. Ask for volunteers for research!!!

What kind of a person would you have to be to even do those experiments?!I’m not sure what there end result is supposed to be but after years of doing it, if they haven’t completed their studies or even hurried to finish this barbaric act, there’s something very wrong. I’d have all the scientists psychologically assessed for being sociopaths. What they do is is wrong beyond reason.

People, thank you so much for caring and acting on behalf of all of us whom believe there is no point or benefit to humans for this type of experiments. Nothing to gain, please stop this unnessary torture.

This is barbaric and inhumane. I cannot believe you are allowing this treatment to continue any longer. This has to stop and quit taking taxpayers money to torture this poor helpless animals. If you feel the need to research than research on death row inmates and murderers. They are the ones who deserve to be torutured

These bitches play God with information the public has a right to know and plays satan with the aanimals’ lives. Crooked cash-cow whores can go to hell for their evil deeds and attempts to cover their festering asses.

Please stop these horrible experiments!!!! Thank you ALDF for taking action…we have to continue to fight and speak up for these poor and beautiful animals that continue to suffer because of these EVIL human beings..
I wish I could perform scientific experiments on them!!!!

Great news, indeed! The public need to know what happens behind closed lab doors. Animal research of any kind DOES NOT WORK! Animal research does not find us cures that will eradicate human disease. It works the opposite by making sure no cure is found, satisfying only the vivisetors curiosity and the pharmaceuticals HUGE bank account.

You are a wonderful organization. There is hope in the world when people like you challenge the cruelties inflicted on innocent , defenseless creatures. The cases of maternal deprivation and induced trauma are particularly disturbing experiments. It is ALL so dreadful for ALL animals in these laboratories. Cold as steel, scientific minds.

Not to mention that similar experiments have been conducted since the 70s. IF there was anything to be learned from these deprivation experiments (and there really isn’t!), it has been “discovered” already…that is, it is horribly psycologically damaging to do this to our fellow primates.

I guess they are trying to demonstrate that we if allow human babies to be exposed to trauma and abuse, before they are even 2 years old, they will be brain-damaged. Frankly, we don’t need a study to prove that child abuse is wrong. It probably damages you in 1000 different ways and that damage starts early. Children need to be safe environments. End of story. If the court and social services system actually valued children and families, they would behave accordingly, and not need “validation” from inhumane research.

This same experiment was being done in the 1970s and I remember petitioning against it when I was in pre-vet med. I think by now just about everyone and their grandparents know about the effects of maternal deprivation on humans and baby monkeys so why persist in this cruel and totally unnecessary experiment? Such a waste of research dollars and defenseless wildlife. Shame on you, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

It is shocking and beyond, to realize what other human beings believe to be “alright to do, because it’s for science and to further this or that for WE Human Beings” ~ What the &*#@!$%!! ~ they simply are blind and deaf to what is right and what is NOT, for Other Sentient Beings!!! WHO DIED AND MADE HUMAN BEINGS GOD??? DID I MISS SOMETHING????
Eden Cross, Animal Communicator / Psychic Medium

This practice is too appalling for words. What kind of people go to work each day and inflict such atrocities on another living creature. A helpless baby. You are a disgrace to the race. To consider yourself superior to other animals is to reduce yourself to a level lower than moronic. There are no words to describe you.

We cannot allow this! This experiment has been conducted many to es and was published long ago, over 40 years ago. Do these sick intellects think they can. Hide their sadistic tendencies behind science. This is disturbingly abuse of babies. These people are guilty of animal cruekty- intentional jnfkictikn of distress is illegal. The police need to inspect the lab and see what other things they are doing. Drowning dogs and bringing them back to life, putting probs in animals brains and sending eledticity through them? Using animals to express tendencies to cause pain to others and excuse it as science is reprehensible. STOP it. Send the police in.

Accurate results are not obtained by experimenting on animals! They are innocent, defenceless, intelligent, sentient beings that feel pain and terror exactly as humans do! However to experiment on humans would be more accurate…but of course you can’t harm humans but you think you should harm animals! It’s pure torture – wrong and barbaric! Start ‘respecting’ all animals and find other ways to do research!

Thank you Animal Defence fund. I live in New Zealand otherwise I’d have made a trip to the University. This Ned Kelin belongs in a mental hospital as he is clearly a sadist. A good man pulls good things out of a good heart and vice versa. Such experiments are against every decent thing we might value. I personally don’t care if such experiments could provide a better understanding because all I see is Kelin is hurting babies and should be shot.

We have lost touch with comprehension, compassion and clarity. “Do unto others…is not about other humans. Would you want this done to your child. We have become the monsters on this planet. No other beings commit such cruelty in the name of research that we already have the answers from previous “experiments”. This behavior must cease now.

OMG!!! This just breaks my heart!?! how could anyone EVER approve of such inhumane testing to be done on ANY living creature?! someone should lock them in a jail cell with NOTHING to comfort them, not even a blanket, and just barely enuf nutrients to survive and see how it feels. :(

The University of Texas should refocused on testing the people who came up with and. Who are participating in the research! This would be the best brain research available! How does one human’s brain get transformed into becoming an animal abuser!!!!

The most disgusting, cruelty, totally without any benefits to any being, human or animal. Anybody with a drop of common sense will tell them that the chemistry of the brain will change with such horrific trauma imposed on it. How would the experimentors like if i ws them or their children undergoung such inhuman suffering. STOP IT IMMIDEATELY! How can human beings be so cut off from their hearts?

barbaric..inhumane cruel beyond the meaning of the word… we r suppose to be more evolved then this…. i have to wonder who is really more intelligent….. stop now…………. have mercy on Gods creatures… respect for life and gratitude for it… we need not make animals suffer for our education we need only to see how they”live free” to see how life works….

On change.org stop the unethical treatment of monkeys at UW-Madison is a list of all board of regents members the president and other big bozos at UW Madison
Please bombard them with letters and phone calls regarding this barbaric tortuous worthless study. The study hasn’t started yet and I think we have a good chance of stopping it with overwhelming negative feedback. They need to hear personally all your voices
and comments posted here.

I have a feeling there tests are meant to study the same effect for humans because they’re planning to do something pretty gruesome to the main population you know all that new world order stuff growing their own armies whatnot.
I agree its a moral and ethical and unbelievable it still goes on.

Any public funded ventures must have access of information. This inhumane experiments are completely disgraceful to the human race. Cease immediately and go home to pray for forgiveness for the tortures you have inflicted.

You need to stop taking these sweet babies from their mother. Are you crazy. Shame on you. Let these baby monkeys with their mother. Let’s put you in a cage and terrifies you. You need to let me do this to you. Let’s use you for experimental testing.

How heartbreaking this atrocity is, these gutless scumbags are so vile and vicious they use live snakes on them? Intentionally inflicting terror on a little baby OMG, my first thought of what I would LOVE to see is the wastes of oxygen doing these sad horrible things being the ones in the cages- except let’s make sure they’re poisonous snakes. They are probably enjoying what they’re doing, how could anybody miss them?

I am horrified at the description of these tests. Those conducting them must have read up on Nazi “science” in order to design this experiment. Mahatma Gandhi said: “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Stop this cruelty now.

PLEASE STOP THIS!!! Start working on real people in JAIL.Who have torched and killed for nothing..Stop hurting the Voiceless. PUT end and JAIL time for the ones who barbaric tortuous worthless study. END IT PLEASE!!!
Stop the Animal abuse around the world. !!!

Having watched the debate a few weeks ago when the Ethics expert opined that the experiment did not pass the reasonable test set forth to gauge the harm vs. the advantages, since it wasn’t showing any new information and wasn’t unique, I am even more passionately against this study. Seeing this allowed my head to align with my heart.

I am physically ill having read this. I am having a very visceral response. Please, dear god, STOP THIS NOW. PLEASE. TY Dr. URSULA WATSON. I WILL BE CALLING, EVERYDAY. Dont stop demanding that this stops right here, right by god now.

When I read about this experiments my heart was so heartbroken I cried. How very cruel and evil to do this to baby animals. University of Wisconsin stop this demonic experiments! Now!!!!i am an animal lover and am appalled at the use of my tax dollars in your worthless and horrific experiments!!!!

This is INSANE! Stop this inhumanity NOW! These barbaric tests were performed 30 years ago, why is it necessary to repeat what is already known! It doesn’t take an Einstein to know if you part child from parent both will suffer terribly:((

The baby monkeys should be protected by now! I have been aware of this situation since back in September when I signed the Change.org petition, and called two different numbers at the Univ. of WI Madison to express concern. End this!

When I first read about these experiments and saw the video of these poor babies being tortured like that I felt such a hatred for these scientists they call themselves. I cannot understand for the life of me how they can stand there and hear these babies scream in pain and terror. this has to end now, this kind of cruelty cannot go on any longer. Do they enjoy this because nobody in his right mind could do this.

I firmly believe that the people who conduct these cruel and horrendous “experiments” have something mentally wrong with them. Maybe they enjoy torturing defenseless animals. Maybe we should take a scan of their brain and find out what makes them so cruel and heartless!!!!

Thanks ALDF, SAEN, PETA and other animal welfare/animal rights organizations who are fighting to stop animal exploitation, so-called science/medical experimentation on animals, and animal testing for commercial products. These things must stop. Good scientific evidence has already well shown that use of animals in science and commerce is no longer in any way justified–it’s bad science. Animal data is no indicator for use in human medicine or product safety. So it’s all about money: grants, pharmaceutical and product subsidies, etc. The most venal of all reasons to conduct sciences. You’re part of the struggle to end this purposeless evil cruelty and death of millions of animals annually. This money could better be used to support real human aid and animal rescue! Tax payers need to be informed at how misused their tax dollars and public institutions are in animal experimentation and how little benefit to society accrues from this animal-based “research”. I will continue to stay informed, to share this knowledge online, and to participate in online campaigns to end these animal abuses.

Are we living in the middle ages still? This is barbaric! What do they think will happen if they take a newborn away from its mother and then provoke anxiety from them? These are educated people? STOP THE TORTURE YOU IDIOTS!!!

This is horrific!! Anybody that can do such a horrible thing to an innocent living creature is evil. I hope they get punished to the full extent so it shows others that this is not acceptable and the public is not going to stand for it. Haven’t we evolved enough to realize this!! Thank you ALDF for caring and doing something about it.
This money should be used to help not harm living creatures. These experiments are bogus.

I’m sickened by the details of this, it’s unspeakable how the cruelty is rationalized. For what? How will the horror of this barbaric experiment benefit us as a species? It appears to explain more about our inhumanity than anything tangible.

When someone needs to harm an animal for fun or just to see what happens i thought these people are in need of help . Oh i forgot these are scientist they can do this and hide behind their status as a scientist . I see no difference between people who feel they must harm an animal because they can and a scientist because they can .But the ordinary person who does this will go to jail , are fined and made to get help .But a scientist can hide behind many words and the law So much suffering in this world .But remember we also do this to unborn children and hide behind laws and words to justify killing , murder .But we will speak higher for an animal than for a human life . But it all just so sad . What have we become ?

I think that this is a disgrace what they are doing to these poor baby monkeys. There is no reason for these heinous and cruel testings. The university and federal government needs to cut your funding if you continue on these primates. They essentially need to put you out of business in performing these experiments. The NIH and any other organizations funding your study should immediately state that if you continue we will shut you donwn!!! This is barbaric, heinous, cruel, unethical immoral. I do not understand how the University of Wisconsin could be apart of this. This needs to stop. What are they study? Nazi science there?

The TV broadcast states that after 30 years of absence, this topic has come up again. Let’s never let this die. This is such a horrible display of animal abuse. The individuals responsible for conducting this study should be pulled from their families and imprisoned for their actions. It has to stop now.

This has to be stopped. There is no point in researching what we already know. There is enough information about this topic already. This research is pointless as I don’t see what are these “scientists” trying to solve by torturing these innocent animals. This is just pointless, Barbaric, inhumane, cruel, outright stupid.

These experiments are unconscionable in this day and age! The university administration should pay closer attention to what their counterparts are up to and discourage this kind of inhumane treatment of animals.

Quickest way to stop this craziness is for parents not to send their college-bound kids to The University of Wisconsin, and for adult students to choose other options if they can. If the university does not put a stop to this and instead chooses to endorse the unnecessary torture of baby monkeys then I don’t trust them to educate my child. There are lots of other great colleges in this country and in Wisconsin! it shouldn’t be a question of taxpayer funding and transparency. What it should come down to is that the University of Wisconsin should not be doing it in the first place. when rational thinking fails the almighty dollar can sway decisions!

Considering the DNA that we share with primates, this is torture. Have to be one callous individual to inflict this kind of emotional punishment on these baby monkeys. Animals are a disposable commodity to these institutions. Who volunteers to submit their human baby to this type of treatment or even their pet, but anonymous research animals no problem. I am opposed to all animal testing and research. The end does not justify the means. Probably funded primarily by NIH so government approved.

I’ve been following this story for months; since the begining I signed the petition, i feel that this barbaric archaic act of “experimentation” does not need to go this far and at all. Period!!! There’s no need for this. We are less than 5% genetically different than these monkeys, we evolved from monkeys and this experiment in my opinion is that in doing this to them we are killing ourselves. The people who are involved in doing these experiments deserve to be treated as they are treating these monkeys. If not then how about their children. But of course these parents would fight tooth an nail for justice. And since thats the case, why do it to another being? Shoot the bastards that are doing this and shoot the bastards condoning this

Disgusting – what are these needless experiments trying to prove? That taking babies away from parents and scaring the hell out of them will traumatize them? We don’t need to do experiments to prove that – we know that’s what will happen. This is absolutely unacceptable and I agree with Kathy – do NOT send your kids or go to University of Wisconsin.

DOWN WITH UofW!!!! Absolute SHAME on whoever came up with this idea. I have had depression/anxiety myself and would rather live with it than put these poor creatures through this inhumane cruelty!! Several wrongs that go with these expiriments wouldn’t make any rights regardless of any break throughs that would result. STOP STOP STOP!!! Nothing more than an excuse to abuse innocent animals!

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